Central Asia news

Leader of the Tajik opposition Group 24 Umarali Kuvatov is detained in Dubai

24.12.2012 19:11 msk

Ferghana

The leader of the Tajik opposition Group 24 Umarali Kuvatov was detained in the airport in Dubai following a request by the Tajik authorities.

Group 24 was organised after a special operation in Gorniy Badakhshan in August 2012. According to Kuvatov, the founders of Group 24 are 24 people, each of whom has their own large team, and the movement has 10,000 people, Regnum reports.

In the interview with K+ Kuvatov explained what tasks Group 24 has before them: uniting opposition and attaining the resignation of President Emomali Rahmon, only after this normal elections will be able to take place.

Interview with Umarali Kuvatov on K+

As Fergana discovered, until recently Umarali Kuvatov was the head of the company which was in charge of oil and gas supply for NATO in Afghanistan and worked closely with the president’s son in law Shamsullo Sahibov. However, the president’s son in law soon showed a serious interest in the business, and demanded his share – and soon Kuvatov was forced to leave Tajikistan.

When in Moscow, Kuvatov occupied himself with politics. He has often said that Group 24 intends to advance their own candidate for the presidential elections, which will take place in 2013, and he was the only group founder to announce his involvement. He was an inexperienced person in politics and trusted many people.

At least two people knew that Kuvatov went to Dubai through Baku. Umarali Kuvatov was detained at passport control.